Rocky Mountain Research

Armed with a $5.3 million federal grant, a U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station laboratory in Montana will embark on a multifaceted research initiative to develop new systems for bioenergy production using wood waste and residues from forest restoration treatments.

“The main goal is to address what we think are some critical issues with regard to using woody biomass in the West for energy feedstock,” says Greg Jones, principal investigator for the biomass grant and research forester with the Rocky Mountain Research Station.

• Consequential cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis of all system products.

• Financial models for the gasification systems co-located at sawmills.

• Market and nonmarket economics research to quantify the costs, benefits and tradeoffs of the conversion technology if deployed in the forest sector.

The team has been able to produce a fairly high-energy syngas, as well as biochar, from a preliminary gasification system and feedback from the forestry industry about its utilization has been encouraging. “There is certainly interest in this industry if it’s feasible,” Jones says.

Transporting and processing residue from remote areas will also be an important aspect of the research, Jones says, adding that little access for wood chippers and other equipment makes biomass harvests in those areas a challenge. “A lot of these remote areas in our part of the world are accessible only by logging roads.” The group will also look for areas in need of improvement in existing equipment designs, says Nate Anderson, forest researcher with the Rocky Mountain Research Station.